Politics and Civil Society in Cuba

Rumba Performance and the Politics of Place in the Era of Cultural Tourism 417

Conclusion

This paper has focused on the micro-practices of contemporary

rumba performance in Havana and Matanzas, emphasizing how the

politics of place vis-à-vis the tourism industry significantly impact

both the political economy of local musicians and the composition of

audiences in each city. The vast majority of literature examining the

impact of foreign tourism in post-Soviet Cuba has focused on the

capital, and thus not recognized the ways that the measures taken by

the state to counteract the economic crisis of the Special Period—

including the expansion of the tourism sector, the introduction of pri-

vate enterprise, and the establishment of a dual currency system—

have been carried out and experienced in geographically uneven ways

across the island. It is my hope that this comparison of rumba perfor-

mance in two cities characterized by distinct economic and social con-

ditions, will contribute to an emerging body of scholarship that

explores both the regional differences on the island as they relate to a

variety of issues, and the correlated politically, economically, and cul-

turally hegemonic status of Havana vis-à-vis the rest of Cuba.

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